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First Read's Morning Clips: A loss for Diane Black in Tennessee

A roundup of the most important political news stories of the day
Image: Rep. Diane Black during a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington
Rep. Diane Black .AARON P. BERNSTEIN / Reuters

MIDTERM MADNESS: Lee wins GOP gubernatorial primary in Tennessee

Bill Lee will be the GOP gubernatorial candidate (and Diane Black came in third!)

Here’s a profile of Lee from the Tennessean.

Lee will take on former Nashville mayor Karl Dean.

It’s official: It’s Bredesen v. Blackburn. (The Washington Post looks at the state of the race here)

Trump-endorsed David Kustoff beat back his challenger, George Flinn.

And a WWE star was elected mayor of Knox County.

CA: Democratic Socialists in California are pumped about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

FL-GOV: The male candidates in the Florida Democratic gubernatorial primary used their final debate to slam Gwen Graham.

KS-GOV: Kansas Democrats are excited at the prospect of running against Kris Kobach.

MD-GOV: Larry Hogan isn’t ruling out running for president in 2020.

OH-12: A new digital spot from American Bridge links Troy Balderson to the allegations against Jim Jordan.

National Journal reports on the heavy lobbying to get an endorsement for Balderson from John Kasich.

And Trump tweeted support for Steve Stivers in the August 7 primary (Stivers is… not on the ballot.)

PA-SEN: Trump campaigned for Lou Barletta even as many Republicans are writing off the race.

And the RNC is warning donors to stay away from the Kochs, according to POLITICO.

TX-SEN: Ted Cruz is up with his first ad — focusing on his work in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

TRUMP AGENDA: “Hoax” or real threat?

Hours after the White House held a special briefing to warn of more election interference, Trump was again referencing the “Russian hoax.”

Trump devoted most of his rally in Pennsylvania to bashing the media.

Paul Manafort’s bookkeeper testified against him.

The Washington Post notes that Brett Kavanaugh has been on both sides of the argument over investigating presidents.

The timing of the release of documents is pushing back Kavanaugh’s confirmation.